As the cost of living in Calgary increases, many people (myself included) have overwhelmingly turned to secondhand marketplaces to purchase their “new” goods.
But these marketplaces are often filled with scams, and having just moved to a new apartment, I’ve become very well-versed in the nightmare of trying to buy or sell on second-hand platforms like Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji.
Karrot, a new secondhand marketplace, is growing in Calgary, promising to fix the problems with traditional buy-and-sell apps. So when they reached out to us to give their buy-and-sell app a try, we figured we’d jump in to see if the claims were true and if I could personally tidy up my apartment fast and get ahead of my seasonal spring cleaning.
A safer buy-and-sell experience in Calgary
As a community-driven platform, Karrot focuses on connections with your neighbours so you can effectively buy and sell used items.
Going beyond some of the more traditional platforms, they boast a number of unique features to help you personalize your experience and make it easier for you to declutter your garage!
On the buying end, you can customize what kinds of items you want to see on your feed with the option to create search alerts for anything you might be trying to purchase. These search alerts can also include price setting, so Karrot will notify you about the items you want at the price you’re willing to pay for them.
What’s more, Karrot has a verification process so you can connect with real, verified users. This helps eliminate bots or scammers and prioritizes meeting real people who want to connect.
As someone who has tried to buy items on other platforms multiple times only to be met with a scammer, this peace-of-mind feature is a plus because I know I’m always communicating with a real person.
Sell used items with confidence
For sellers, Karrot’s listing interface is super intuitive, providing prompts that help eliminate a lot of back-and-forth I’ve experienced (i.e., dimensions, condition, etc.).
The best part about listing with Karrot is their AI feature, which analyzes your uploaded photos and fills in certain prompts for you! That means you can focus on selling rather than wasting time trying to come up with a jazzy description and headline.
Karrot also lets you list items for free or trade, which is great if you were going to throw something valuable away, but want to give it a good home instead. This is a feature I personally love because usually I’m just looking to get rid of things in my over-cluttered space, and as the saying goes, one person’s trash is another one’s treasure!
Community selling made simple
Honestly, having been active on Karrot for a couple of weeks, my once hoarder-chic-looking apartment has turned into a minimalist zone consisting of the things I actually need (and maybe some other purchases/trades I made on the app, but don’t tell my boyfriend that!)
I’ve been able to get rid of some old holiday decorations, used books that didn’t hit, and even helped my mom sell her old bed to make room for the one I bought her for her birthday (because I’m nothing if not a good son).
To help keep you engaged with your community and stay buying local, Karrot also runs regular events for “Karroters” that help incentivise you to sell through the platform. One of their Spring Freecycle events has prizes like gift cards to Amazon and a spending spree to spruce up your home!
Plant the seeds that are your used items, grow within your community, and download Karrot today.
KARROT
Chris Middleton
Senior Staff Writer — Branded Content
Chris is currently the senior staff writer for the branded content studio at Zoomer Media, Hive Labs, which creates content for Daily Hive, blogTO, Curiocity, the Peak, and other Zoomer Digital properties. Based in Toronto, when he’s not scribbling screeds on his computer, you can find him scouring the city for the best spot to grab a bite, laying prone on the couch binge-watching reality TV, or traversing hiking trails with his dog, Omar.
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